Thundery showers and lots of heat!

We carry on where we left off on the last update a week ago... It's still hot, as one would expect at this time of year. Temperatures into the mid 30's Celcius. If you are American, that's "quite hot" in Farenheit, and you really should join the rest of the world now and dump the ancient measuring units. I mean, I know what a mile and an ounce and a foot is, but most of the world doesn't. (rant over)

When a local person tells you "it's hot today" (in Thai "wan nee rawn mak - วันนี้ร้อนมาก") then you know it's hot. If a Swedish tourist says "it's hot" they have no idea! On the subject of weather related Thai language, if you want to learn more about how to talk about the weather, check out this page: Talking about the weather in Thai.

Lazy with the camera during the week, just trying to concentrate on work, still pretty busy at Sunrise Divers and a month of "high season" to go - although April is the end of the season, it can be the best time to dive - hot, calm seas and a good chance of finding a whaleshark :)

I did pop out of the shop to try and get a good photo of a caged songbird that was one of several hanging outside a nearby restaurant. Got one!

Saturday (24th) I took advantage of a day off for some exploring. The day was hot, but quite hazy. Lunchtime view:

I took a little drive in Phuket Town and paused to visit a Hindu temple and a Sikh temple (Gurdwara). I am sure most people don't know that Phuket has Hindu and Sikh temples! At the Sikh gurdwara I was invited in and 2 guys made tea while another showed me around. They were all Indians, though one had lived in Thailand for 6 years. Very nice people. The cloth on my head is a sign of respect, though it does make me look even more stupid than normal. They were too polite to tell me.

And then, off to Rawai beach, or nearly there. The Phuket seashell museum has been open since 1997, housing a large collection of shells, and I had never been before! Probably driven past 500 times, though! Entry 200 Baht and actually it was quite good, certainly I do like shells, and think I will take the kids here one day, I think my daughter will love it, she's always picking up pretty shells on the beach.

And then the last few days ... on Monday evening a big thundershower about 6pm, on Tuesday, same, and Wednesday an even bigger one, all after hot days. The exact location of the rain varied. On our house I measured 9mm on Monday, nothing on Tuesday and then 40mm yesterday - the road up to my house was a river! Tonight, no rain seen, so I have been out running at Surakul stadium, 3rd time in 10 days, trying to deny the fact that I am 40+ :)

Weather forecast, more of the same for sure. Heat + occasional isolated thunder and rain in the late afternoon or night. That's how it goes.